I am posting to ask you opinions on the diffs between a 2001 SSII 5 string (which I own) and older SSII 5 models.

Question: Has the SSII ever had a WENGE neck in addition to wenge fingerboard? My 2001 SSII 5 has a wenge fingerboard, but not a wenge NECK. I think it is an afzelia neck with some other wood in it.

The reason I ask is becaise I owned a '97 SSII 5 string and from what I recall, it had a WENGE fingerboard and NECK???

Also, they have cheapo's the electronics from 18 volt to 9 in my new SSII.

Thoughts??? I'm trying to decide if I want to keep the bass, and currently it's missing something in the sound. I am wondering if its the neck construction/wood selection. If its just the pups/electronics, then I'll replace them with Basslines. But before I spend the cash, I'm wondering about the neck woods...

Well, I'm just wondering--Warwick has in the last few years changed a lot of body and neck wood on their high end bases--for ex., I have a '98 Dolphin Pro 4 string with a Boire Rosewood Body with a wenge neck--now they have ovangkol bodies and necks, a cheaper wood, but still a nice wood choice. What Warwick has done is use cheaper woods on their high end basses to keep the market price, relying on their name for marketing purposes, and I'm wondering if that is so with the SSII.

Originally posted by AllodoX aren't you mistakening (sp?) the I with the II ?

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No.

That would be easy because SS1s have maple necks.

Yes (waiting for Warwick5S to show up and set things straight), AFAIK the SS2 used to have a wenge neck; now it has ovangkol I think. I'm looking on their website and it doesn't say what the neck woods are!

Question: Has the SSII ever had a WENGE neck in addition to wenge fingerboard? My 2001 SSII 5 has a wenge fingerboard, but not a wenge NECK. I think it is an afzelia neck with some other wood in it.

The reason I ask is becaise I owned a '97 SSII 5 string and from what I recall, it had a WENGE fingerboard and NECK???

Andy

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Hei, I think I can help you.
The older Warwick SSII used to have a 7pieces Afzelia/Wengé neck, with Wengé fingerboard.
Well, now Wengé is hard to get (and it's expensive), so Warwick folks traded it with Ovangkol, cheaper but not ugly. This wood is obviously lighter, but it's not as stiff as Wengé.
The differences are a lot, but I don't wanna bore you with all the details... like glue, wood aging, pickups, electronics, handmade VS. factory made etc. All these changes were applied on 1991 basses and newer. But the SSII is the best Warwick (in the actual line).

Question: Has the SSII ever had a WENGE neck in addition to wenge fingerboard? My 2001 SSII 5 has a wenge fingerboard, but not a wenge NECK. I think it is an afzelia neck with some other wood in it.

The reason I ask is becaise I owned a '97 SSII 5 string and from what I recall, it had a WENGE fingerboard and NECK???

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Answer: Yes, older SSII:s had wenge in their necks, together with some other wood,and I trust dreadhead when he says afzelia. Seems reasonable, I thought that it might have been bubinga since they used that in some of their other basses, starting in the mid nineties. But, if he says afzelia, I won't argue.

What puzzles me is that you ask a question, when you already know the answer, from having owned an older SSII...

Can't say anything about the elecronics in the Stage II BTW. The one I've tried most extensively was probably a 9 volt system, since that one was an early nineties one. They've probably changed the electronics a few times since.

And I must (well...) also say that I prefer Stage I Streamers over Stage II:s. The SSII:s sound a bit too nasal and sterile in my ears, SSI:s sound fuller, if not as well defined and maybe not as Warwicky as the SSII:s. But I like that, and remember that I'm a bit biased from having owned a SSI close to ten years (yikes!)...

but just for comparison - my 98 SS2 has 18V electronics and a 7 piece wenge/afzelia neck.

the reason they switched to ovangkol is that there is NO new wenge coming out of africa due to the war in the congo. they're the only big scale production outfit that uses that much wenge, so they just COULDN'T make them anymore with wenge. if they did, the prices would be fodera-esque.

there are other cost cutting measures though - the plastic nut and gradually decreasing electonic quality for example.

but just for comparison - my 98 SS2 has 18V electronics and a 7 piece wenge/afzelia neck.

the reason they switched to ovangkol is that there is NO new wenge coming out of africa due to the war in the congo. they're the only big scale production outfit that uses that much wenge, so they just COULDN'T make them anymore with wenge. if they did, the prices would be fodera-esque.

there are other cost cutting measures though - the plastic nut and gradually decreasing electonic quality for example.

any other questions?

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You own a '98 Stage II... so your is already a factory made one... I've played and owned all pre-91 Warwicks, and I must admit that the quality was just DIFFERENT. But I must admit that the Stage II is the bass that defends its quality in the Warwick line. The only one that does it.

Originally posted by swingbass What about the semi hollow with the f holes? I forget what it's called. Is it any good?. I.E. top of the line sort of stuff?

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Well, the Infinity is a OLD bass project by Stefan Manz. He designed it a lot of time ago, and when Hans Peters needed a new bass, he modified the project a little and... voila! The Corvette!
Then they created the Corvette Thinline, and in the 2000, ripping off the collectors and the bass players, they squeezed the Infinity LTD.
I've owned one of the first made (made for the NAMM, if I remember well) and they were hand made. It's not garbage, but it's not worth the price. Mine featured MusicMan like pickups with external poles.

I got a new ss2 (just got it). the neck is constructed from afzeila, ovenkogle and some other wood i cant recognize. I never heared the old version of the ss2, but i can tell you this : my ss2 sounds like nothing i've even heared, its amazing, cuts like crazy and really easy and fast to play.

The only problem i've got with it is the noisy electronics. probably going to replace them with barts.

If you accept a council, get an Eighties Thumb bass or Stage II. They are really great basses, well-built and 100 times better than the newer ones.

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Just out of curiosity, when did Warwick start making SSI and II basses? I know that the first Streamers were only called just that, and were made out of cherry, with wenge necks. I think I've seen one of those made in '89, so I suspect that the maple SSI and afzelia SSII saw the light of day around '89-90, but I could be wrong. Am I?

I'd try Bassines v/ Barts for the upgrade. If you go to to 311 website, you can listen to a few cuts with P Nut playing his SSII 5 w/ Basslines--sounds awesome.

Hey Warwick5S, what's in your SSI 5???

Andy

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it's stock right now. and sounds damn good - only problem is the noise and unreliability of the MEC preamp. so i'm either going to get a bart preamp or a u-retro deluxe. and i WAS going to keep the stock MEC's until i noticed that stefan lessard has basslines in his warwicks too. that's the sound that got me into warwicks - and i always thought those were stock pickups. so who knows....

i'll swap the pre first and see what happens. i think the pre is worse than the pickups, IMO.

I sent warwick an email about this annoying problem. they said that i can change some parts on the preamp that would make it less noisy but need 10 times more battery power. i really love the sound that im getting from the bass i just dont want that hiss, so i will first try to change those parts befor changing the preamp.

even tho' i think that P nut is getting some serious growl out of his basslines. I will probably try his setup of preamp/pickups if that trick doesnt work.

btw: do you know what dirk lance(alex katunich) is using on his ss2? i also really like his tone but i think that his fingers are responsable for his tone more then anything else.